The school district's history started circa 1898. The conflict continued into 1978, and the accused board member expressed hope that after an election, the conflicts would subside. the district sends high school students and junior high level special education students to the
Deer Valley Unified School District (DVUSD). In 1984, 27 students from Cañon attended DVUSD. That year Deer Valley sued Cañon, which stated it was unable to pay for the tuition costs of the district and acknowledged that it was billed for the correct amount.
The Arizona Republic described this as a "friendly lawsuit", since according to the DVUSD officials, Cañon district officials stated that the lawsuit was the only mechanism through which it could pay DVUSD. In 2006 enrollment was under 300. That year, there was a proposal for a referendum on whether the Canon school district should consolidate with the DVUSD, or with the
Mayer Unified School District, or to do nothing. ==References==